I believe I read this book in the mid-1960s from the school library. A new boy shows up in the community and, over the course of the summer, teaches all of his classmates to fly. Spoiler alert: it turns out he is actually a bird temporarily in boy form, and when he leaves at the end of the summer (presumably to migrate), one of the girls (maybe a loner who has no family?) goes with him, as a bird. I don’t think it’s the girl from whose point of view the story is told, but that’s possible. The title that sticks in my head, but which I think is wrong, is That Summer, the Birds. THANK YOU!!!
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Summer of the Birds, by Penelope Farmer. You almost had it!
I think this may be Penelope Farmer’s ‘The Summer Birds’ (Chatto and Windus, 1962).
YES! That’s it! And so fast.
Indeed, my recollection of the title was close, yet not close enough for Google to be of any use whatseover. Thank you so much for recognizing it.
And I see on Wikipedia that Penelope Farmer wrote two more books featuring some of the same characters. New riches to explore.
Deep gratitude all round.